My musings, reflections on life here in Shiloh, Israel. Original, personal, spiritual and political. Peace, security and Israeli sovereignty. While not a "group blog," Shiloh Musings includes the voices of other Jews in The Land of Israel.
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Saturday, June 30, 2007

Last week when my neighbors and I got off the bus on the main road, across from Tourmus Aya, where it forks to Ma'aleh Levona, I took a couple of pictures of the Arab housesincluding one under construction.I just wonder... how big it will end up being....

Read this article on ynet; it explains things very clearly. Here's an excerpt:

The borders of British Mandatory Palestine too were set, just like the case with its neighbors, on the basis of colonial interests. In many areas, the border was drawn in a rather random manner. Had it been performed a little differently, would the Arabs of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon become Palestinian? Would the Arabs of Tarshiha in the Galilee be Lebanese? Are residents of Trans-Jordan, which was initially part of Mandatory Palestine and a few years later became the Kingdom of Jordan, Palestinian or Jordanian?During the less than 30 years of the existence of this Mandate, from which the Palestinians draw their name, no significant indications were to be found of a united national identity of their own. The leader of Mandate Arabs was the Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, who viewed himself as a pan-Arabic leader, imposed his rule through the persecution and assassination of his rivals, and headed a loose alliance of clans, tribes, and local interests that were mostly united by hatred towards the Jews, and to a lesser extent towards the British.

How to interpret the supposed fight between Hamas and Al Fatah (also known as ‘the PLO’)?The media has always represented Hamas and Fatah as great enemies, but this has always flown in the face of the facts (consider the love letter to the PLO contained in the Hamas Charter, at top). In the pages of the New York Times and other such publications Hamas and Fatah would snarl at each other but in the real world there was a dramatic contrast: leaders of Hamas would become leaders of Fatah and vice-versa, and they cooperated closely when it came to repressing the Arab civilian population of the West Bank and Gaza, and when it came to attacking Israel.[2]

We are here to introduce a new era in America - an era of unity, mutual respect, and lasting peace -- an era when Christian and Jew stand together hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder.... ---Pastor John Hagee from CUFI

We shall rise to meet the dawning of a new era - a new order of peace and prosperity in which lion and hyena come together in a great and glorious future.... ----Scar from the Lion King

Like King Achashverosh, sleep evaded me last night. So I rose at dawn and wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry as I, once again, perused the above quote by Pastor John Hagee, which appeared in an article written by Marcia Friedman and was published in yesterday's (June 27) online edition of the Jewish Press.

I called my daughter, read her Hagee's quote, and asked her if she heard this before? Without missing a beat, she replied, "That's easy Mom. It's from that chilling scene in the Lion King, where Scar recruits the hyenas."

I knew that. In fact , I had already accessed Google for the source, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn't losing my mind. After Scar's proclamation, things take a real downhill turn in The Pridelands in the form of murder, famine, oppression and a lack of rain. That is until Simba shows up, deposes of the character that made that speech, and returns things to their natural order.

Now I know that plot doesn't quite jibe with John Hagee's end-times scenario, but I didn't write the script. Walt Disney Productions owns the rights. And this cartoonist feels that it's a blessing that Walt left this world before he could see Micky hijacked by Hamas and Hagee partially clone Scar's oration.

Characters will be characters and it seems that the good pastor has a special affinity for the Purim story. I find it queer that the jumbo-sized reverend, with a deep-seated aversion to gays, takes to masquerading (behind his CUFI organization) as Queen Esther:

"We hear the voice of Haman ranting from Iran but the church of Jesus Christ will be silent no more! This time the spirit of Ester will prevail." "CUFI is exactly in the position of Esther...."

Pastor John Hagee and I share some common ground , as I feel he is correct in his labeling of Iran's President as Hamen incarnate -- but it hardly takes a preacher turned Doomsday prophet to have figured that out.

A year ago this former caricaturist told my kids that the Iranian president had the same face as Hamen. The kids looked at me -- as if I were a bit touched - patted me on the head and said, " ahhh ... right, Mom ". A few weeks ago I showed them the latest quote, in which Ahmadinejad speaks of Israel's "imminent disappearance " and says that "the Zionist regime will have to bow down to Palestinians." And they said "Huh. You're right, Mom ".

We Jews must know that even if all of the chariots, horses, and myriads of men from AIPAC, CUFI and an empathetic U.S. Congress were to combine and convince the White House to physically eliminate the Iranian threat, it would be but a temporary reprieve from our enemies -- and there would be a formidable cost involved. It will continue to be that way until we Jews learn to stand on our two feet and fulfill our unique responsibilities as individuals, as a nation , and as a light unto the nations.

I'm wary when Hagee implores us to fantasize that "our potential future together: 50 million evangelicals joining in common cause with 5 million Jewish people in America on behalf of Israel is a match made in heaven."

Once again, this reminds me of something from the not-so-distant past. Only this time it wasn't a cartoon production. I penned an article two years ago in response to Pastor Vineyard's plans to have 50,000 Southern Baptists set up residency in Gush Katif to avert the Disengagement Plan. Well, that didn't pan out. Thousands of Baptists didn't come and thousands of Jews went.

To rely on a spontaneous swelling of our ranks, via an influx of another faith or nation, has never been the preferred strategy for the Jews. Our successful legacy and survival has never been tied to demographic strength and superiority. The faithful few against the many has been a formula we can and must consistently count on.

That I had to pick up the following little gem from the liberal Jews on First website, which keeps tabs on Pastor Hagee and is directed by a Reform rabbi, should put every Torah Observant Jew and Zionist to shame -- especially those who claim to have more in common with Christians than they do with their own people:

"Indeed, Jewish commentators interpret the book of Esther as calling for more responsibility on the part of Jews for their fate. Some commentators suggest that the book may be a sly letter from the Jewish Diaspora claiming that people in the Babylonian Exile (circa 500 B.C.E.) do not need to return to Israel since they were an important "lobby" that saved the Jewish people."

That's because you're supposed to stop them, destroy them, not find ways to live with them.That's enough for now, must get ready for Shabbat. I'm not going to quote Olmert ad nauseum; I don't want to puke.Shabbat Shalom U'Mevorach!

Let's start with a very simple geography lesson. You've heard of Judea and Samaria? I live in Samaria, the Shomron, in Hebrew. It's north of Jerusalem. And Judea, Yehuda, which includes Gush Etzion and Hebron, is south of Jerusalem.

I like to keep things simple.

That means that Ofra and Efrat are not nearby, nor are Shiloh and Hebron.

I don't know that the custom is in other parts of the world, but in Israel, at the end of the school year, the school staff, in ours it includes maintenance as well as teachers and administrators, go on some sort of trip or walking tour and end up with a "dinner."

That's what I was doing yesterday afternoon, evening, actually until pretty late. We, the staff of Yeshiva High School Mateh Binyamin, went south of Jerusalem to Kever Rachel and Gush Etzion.

For me, the most complicated thing was just getting to the bus, since it was leaving from Beit El. I made a whole bunch of useless phone calls to try to arrange a ride. But since I was determined to get there and have a good time, I finally just left my house and hoped for the best.

After waiting a bit for the Egged bus to Jerusalem to show, I caught a ride with a school bus going to Ofra, on the way. I exchanged pleasantries with the driver, an old friend. Suddenly a felt the bus swerve a bit and a little white car bounced in front of us, hitting the heavy bullet-proof bus and flew away, towards the rocks on our right.

Ooop! The driver slowed down carefully and backed up to see what had happened. Other cars had already stopped. The car was on its side in the ditch/shoulder, and it seemed that the passengers had been able to get out. The bus driver told me that he had seen the little car trying to overtake us, though we were in a "no pass" area. Cars were coming in the other direction, and the little white car had no where to go, but fly like it did. We couldn't stop safely without causing cars to crash into our rear.The cars behind us and going the other way had already stopped and the emergency team from Ofra, arrived within seconds, so I caught a ride to the Beit El T junction. I tried contacting the school to tell them to pick me up there, when another teacher stopped in a car and told me to get in.

So in the end I was about the first to get on the bus in Beit El. We picked up various teachers on the way. The first stop of our tour was Kever Rachel. Many of the teachers hadn't been there for years and were horrified by the wall which surrounds it. One told me:

"It's a good thing I read your blog or I wouldn't have been prepared for the shock."

From there we went to Gush Etzion, where the guide told us that it's even higher than Beit El. The winds certainly were the worst.From there we went to the "Alon Haboaded," a large tree which had been visible from Jerusalem during the 19 years between the destruction of Gush Etzion and the rebuilding after the Six Days War. I found the incongruity of the Arab vineyard next to it with the claim of "return" very disturbing.Next we experienced the well-produced Sound and Light Show in Kfar Etzion.

After that we had dinner at the "foot" of Efrat, in a rustic setting, catered by "Shifon," Neve Daniel. Of course, we're all familiar with the original "Shifon Bakery" in Adam, near us.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

WHY, indeed is this man smiling? I haven't found this in English, but on the Hebrew NFC website the following is being reported:

*

"WE CANNOT PROVIDE SECURITY FOR SDEROT"

The Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, admits that the government of Israel, for the immediate future, cannot provide personal security, for the citizens of Sderot and the areas in close proximity to Gaza.

..."Your life in the State of Israel is subject to a certain degree of risk, and one who wishes to live in the Jewish State takes upon himself this risk. It is still a much smaller risk than those that Jews face all over the world," Olmert said at the Caeserea forum.

UPDATE 2, mid-day Friday: The Jerusalem Post has it, and take a good look at the feedback. Here's one I just couldn't resist:

Olmert Unable to Protect His Country - Time for Him to Exit - J, 06/29/2007 05:34No confidence vote. Military coup. Civilian unrest and protest. Political coup. Anything to get this man out of office. His goal is to destroy Israel - consciously or subconsciously. He is not fit to be prime minister.

***

But a degree of consolation can be found in a brilliant op-ed by Rabbi Emanuel Feldman in The Jerusalem Post. I bring you perhaps the best part, what Ollie, Peres, and Barak SHOULD BE saying:

*

Peres: "I ask forgiveness for the sin of Oslo. I sincerely thought that a new Middle East was upon us, but I was completely in error. Oslo was a disaster for us. The Arabs never wanted peace, they want only to eliminate us by any means - even by declaring peaceful intentions. I was too blinded to see this and I pushed hard for the Oslo agreements. This led to misery and to bloodshed, and I sincerely regret it. I am ashamed of my deeds and will never again repeat them. Nor will I ever again ask for the trust of public office."*

Olmert: "I ask forgiveness for the sins of Gaza and the sin of the Second Lebanon War. I agreed with Sharon that by forcing the Jewish citizens of Gaza out of their homes, Israel would win the sympathy of the world and would convince the Arabs of our peaceful intentions. I was wrong on all counts. We achieved no sympathy, we hurt almost 10,000 of our most idealistic Israelis, and we only convinced the Arabs that we were in retreat. I was too blinded to see all this, and it has led to bloodshed and misery for all of us. The current nightmare situation in Gaza - which has become a Hamas and al-Qaida stronghold that bombs Israel daily - is a direct result of my miscalculation. I am ashamed of what I did, and I will never again ask for the trust of public office."The same holds true for my sins in the Second Lebanon war. Winograd was right: I made terrible errors in judgment that cost us dearly. The same holds true for all the ethical questions swirling about my financial dealings. I regret all this and apologize as I return to private life."

*

Barak: "I ask forgiveness for evacuating our soldiers from Lebanon when I was PM. I thought this would convince the world and the Arabs of our peaceful intentions. I was wrong on all counts. The Arabs want only our destruction, and their several intifadas prove this. I also ask forgiveness for trying to give most of the Old City to Arafat during the Wye talks. All we got in return was more killings and more intifada. I regret all this, and as an act of repentance I pledge never again to ask for the trust of public office."

This may make me persona non grata among some of you.I've been ranting about the Jewish Darfur fixation for the past two years, ever since I was in New York on the eve of Disengagement and couldn't understand where the hearts and heads of my fellow Jews were. It seemed like all the rabbis could talk about was the "situation" in Darfur and the poor persecuted people there.Now, at the same time thousands of innocent, law abiding Jews were about to be thrown out of their homes. Their homes, schools, businesses, communities etc were going to be destroyed in a unilaterally, that means one-sided, in exchange for nothing, gesture to Arab terrorists who were cheering the Israeli government on. So were international "diplomats," media etc. Look at the Jews, doing Hitler's work, what a pleasure.Gevalt! Did anyone care? I heard nothing from the pulpits of those synagogues except: "Darfur" "Save the innocents of Darfur"Of course, afterwards, that's after Disengagement, some of the same Jews started "campaigns" to help the unfortunate Disengagement "evacuees." Blahh! As if getting a ping pong table in some teen activity room will help. A fun day at the Dead Sea won't rebuild their lives.To put things in a more accurate perspective, read this:

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Fire Tony Blair!Tony Blair left his esteemed position as British Prime Minister under a cloud of serious unpopularity.Now the Peter's Principle is promoting him to an international position. The so-called Quartet of international mediators, the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia, have declared him special envoy to make peace in the Middle East.

He's going as a policeman to enforce his agenda. Blair and his buddies want a "Palestinian" state, through hell or high water, no matter how it affects Israel.

Alex Grobman sent me his latest book, Nations United. I ended up reading it Shabbat afternoon, which surprised me.

Why did it surprise me? I've read light novels and gripping memoirs, like Tuesdays with Morrie, on long summer Shabbat afternoons, but usually anything serious just puts me to sleep. There was nothing else, and it had just arrived before Shabbat, and it's not a long book, so I opened "Nations United."

I was very pleasantly surprised. There is so much very important information and history in the book. It's a must have for anybody who wants to know the truth about Israel and the Middle East.

That's not to say that I agree with everything in the book. I'm neither an academic nor a historian. I have my opinions, and at my age, I've lived through what others call history. Since I'm not about to try to write a book to compete with Grobman's I value his.

Grobman concentrates on the infamous "Zionism is Racism" UN Resolution. He sees it as a cause of anti-Semitism/Zionism, and I see it as a result. It's the chicken-egg dilemma. Which came first?

I am convinced that if there hadn't been underlying anti-Semitism/Zionism, there never would have been such a UN Resolution, and they UN wouldn't be passing all those anti-Israel resolutions. The later repeal of the resolution was just a sign of the western world's embarrassment, like after the Holocaust.

It's the latent and active anti-Semitism in Christianity and western culture which facilitates and supports the United Nations and Arab anti-Israel policies.

But, as I said before, the book is required reading for anyone who really cares about the true history of the Modern Middle East.

One of my latest posts is up on Arutz 7, but they changed the title this time. I can understand that, especially since when I give people advice about how to speak to journalists I always say to hold the sarcasm, and "If only they made bomb shelters this thick!" is as sarcastic as they come.

The reason I'd like you to go to A7 is not to see my article, unless you didn't read it here--which you still can. It's to read the comments there. I'm impressed by what the readers wrote. And, yes, you can certainly add your comments to the A7 version and to my blog version.

There's a great comment tradition on A7, though I'm not one of the bigger magnets.

Monday, June 25, 2007

I've never quite understood the distinction between terrorists with blood on their hands or those without blood on their hands.Olmert has announced that Israel (he, Olmert=Israel) will release, in his humanitarian program known as "Give them Another Chance," 250 terrorists who are having trouble getting into the Arab Terror Honor Society, because their hands aren't bloody enough.It's sort of like in Baseball allowing the players at bat long enough until they succeed in hitting the ball. This line is in honor of the opening of Israel's professional baseball league.Olmert has no problems releasing Arab terrorists, but his government is prosecuting 146 young, idealistic Zionists whose crime is loving Eretz Yisrael and not being afraid to say so.

I guess he considers himself immune from terrorism, but he knows that these kids won't be swayed by his well-practiced smile and his well-trained security forces. These wonderful kids frighten him, so he wants them locked up.

The media and international diplomats, politicians, charlatans etc keep brainwashing the world to believe in the ultimately peaceful intentions of the Arabs.They keep coming up with "solutions" and brainstorms on how to "solve" the "conflict."It's all a "con," a trick.They don't read or listen to what the Arabs are actually saying. There a couple of excellent organizations which try to publicize the truth, straight from the "horse's" (no offense to horses) mouth.The Arab Internet media has become very professional and slick. I suggest reading Ma'an News Agency to find out what they really think and want.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Rechov Neve Dekalim! Sderot Gush Katif! Rechov Kfar Darom! Simtat Shirat HaYam! Soon these may be the new names of streets in the Southern Israel town of Kiryat Gat.

Kol HaKavod, kudos, to Chaim Shalom of Kiryat Gat [pictured above, if anyone has a better pic, please let us know], for naming the streets of an entire neighborhood for the destroyed Gush Katif communities. This news is actually a few days old, but worth posting since, besides the original Arutz Sheva posting, I have not seen it anywhere on the JBlogosphere, or on the Net for that matter. Because of its importance, I bring it here in its entirety.[Note: the original Arutz Sheva article in English referred to him (except once) as “Cohen.” However, a check of the Hebrew article, as well as the Kiryat Gat city council website, indeed refers to him as Chaim Shalom. Therefore, I have corrected it below, with everything else intact.]

Southern City to Name New Streets for Katif Townsby Hillel Fendel (IsraelNN.com)For the first time in Israel, a city council - Kiryat Gat - has decided to name the streets of an entire neighborhood for the destroyed Gush Katif communities. Kiryat Gat is located 16 kilometers (ten miles) northeast of Kassam-beleaguered Sderot.The city council unanimously approved the proposal to name the new streets for the towns destroyed in the Disengagement of 2005. Under the Disengagement Plan, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz expressed the hope that destroying the Jewish towns in Gush Katif and handing over the area to the Arabs of Gaza would improve security for Israel, and promised that terrorist rockets and shells into Israel would be dealt with harshly.The main streets in the new Kiryat Gat neighborhood will be named after the larger communities, such as N'vei Dekalim, Katif, and Netzer Hazani, while the lanes and smaller roads will be named after small towns such as Shirat HaYam, Morag, and others."Already during the sad days of the expulsion," said councilman Chaim Shalom, who proposed the idea, "I felt that, in addition to our hosting of the expellees and the other help we gave them, we had to do something that would really engrave in our consciousness what happened there."Shalom is remembered favorably by Gush Katif supporters as the one who was locked into his office by the Shabak when then-Defense Minister Mofaz arrived in the city - because Shalom had said he would protest strongly against Mofaz.Why the Labor Member Changed His MindShalom had tried to pass the street-naming resolution several times in the past two years, but was not able to muster the necessary majority. However, yesterday the resolution passed unanimously. What changed? "The Labor Party member told me that he had always objected to what I had written in the local papers against the Disengagement," Shalom said, "but he changed his mind in light of the results of the expulsion we are all seeing now - and now he says he agrees with every word I wrote.""When I wrote articles warning that Kiryat Gat would soon be threatened by Kassams," Shalom said, "people attacked me and said I was a prophet of doom. But today they all agree I was right." Kassams have not yet hit Kiryat Gat, but the city is within range of the more powerful missiles.Shalom hopes to hold the naming ceremony on the second anniversary of the Disengagement, in the presence of the former residents of the areas and prominent public figures.

I don't want to rub it in, but being a high school English teacher in Israel has its perks, and it also has its miseries. But what better way to celebrate the end of the school year than by hosting Havel Havelim?

Havel Havelim, the international jblog carnival, was established by Soccer Dad, whom I finally f2f-ed. For proof of that, read this entire Havel Havelim to the very, very end. It's now probably the longest-running blog carnival under original management.

The term “Havel Havelim” is from Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, which was written by King Solomon, who built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other “excesses” and finally realized that it was nothing but norishkeit, “havel” or in English “vanities.” I think that King Solomon and his father King David were the original "bloggers." The books they wrote, when you take them chapter by chapter, can easily be described as blog posts. The stones they used to write on made them last, so that we can read them now. I doubt if today's technology will give our words any lasting effect.

I don't want to give this edition an "eyin haraa" as I put this together, but I must say that the quantity and quality of posts jbloggers have been mailing me is very impressive. #122 won't be organized in any way, just haphazard, since many posts came in emails, not the form with the topics. It's ok.

Now for the show:

Can you identify the blessing that inspired this?

Light, darkness, and peaceThese, and everything, you madeG-d, King of the world

There's a well-known Passover song that teaches the significance of numbers in Judaism. So, yes, we, or most of us, have no problems with numbers up to 13. Soccer Dad posted a number quiz from his nephew's Bar Mitzvah, with many, many more. Try it!

Carl's CornerUnlike many bloggers who may have sent me as many, links if not more, as Carl did, Carl sends the week's supply in one large package, and I can't spread them around. So I just find it easier to give him a special corner. They are always interesting, so dig in and enjoy.

Send your links for the next edition of Havel Havelim via blog carnival, and at the same time you may discover other “carnivals” to visit and enter. You can also use those forms to send kosher recipes and other kosher food posts to the Kosher Cooking Carnival. Blog carnival also has a great listing of recent carnivals for your sidebar. You can either get one for a specific carnival, like HH or KCC, or a general one.

Just a note:I've been taking my turn at hosting Havel Havelim for quite a while, (maybe Soccer Dad will tell us when my first was,) and I'm awed by the growth and changes in the jblogging world. There are such richness, depth, intelligence and perception in the posts I've read. Also, now jbloggers know to send their posts. I'm pretty sure that this is the largest Havel Havelim I've ever hosted, and almost all of the posts came either from the blogger or from other bloggers who felt that they should be included. It's definitely a privilege to be of this period of time and part of the international jblogger community.

Thanks to Soccer Dad for his hard work keeping this going, and if you want to host, please let him know at dhgerstman at hotmail dot com.